Writing for publication

that we wish we had found when fi rst attempting to write for publication?” and second, “What book could meet the professional development needs of both ing and accomplished authors whi

Springer Texts in Education

Writing for Publication

Mary Renck Jalongo

Olivia N Saracho

Transitions and Tools that Support Scholars’ Success

Springer Texts in Education

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13812

Mary Renck Jalongo • Olivia N Saracho

Writing for Publication

Transitions and Tools that Support Scholars’ Success

ISSN 2366-7672 ISSN 2366-7980 (electronic)

Springer Texts in Education

ISBN 978-3-319-31648-2 ISBN 978-3-319-31650-5 (eBook)

DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-31650-5

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016940056

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016

This work is subject to copyright All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed

The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use

The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors

or omissions that may have been made

Printed on acid-free paper

This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature

The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland

Mary Renck Jalongo

Journal and Book Series Editor Springer

Indiana , PA , USA

Olivia N Saracho Teaching & Learning University of Maryland College Park , MD , USA

Contents

Part I Professional Roles and Publishable Writing

1 From Aspiring Author to Published Scholar 3

Who Is an Author? 4

Metaphors for Academic Writing 5

The Perquisites of Publishing 6

The Challenges of Scholarly Writing 8

Personal Writing Habits 10

Counteracting Obstacles to Scholarly Writing 12

Implement Evidence-Based Strategies 13

Deal with Impatience and Uncertainty 15

Cope with Time Constraints 15

Get Past Procrastination and Avoidance 16

Address Aversion to Writing 17

Put Perfectionism on Hold 19

Be Realistic About Criticism 20

Seek Out More Knowledgeable Others 20

Use Higher-Order Thinking 22

Nonnative and Native Speakers of English 22

Additional Resources for International Scholars 26

Conclusion 26

2 From Unpublishable to Publishable 27

“Fast, Easy and Brilliant” Versus “Clearly and Warmly and Well” 29

Purposes of Nonfi ction Written for Professionals 32

Argument in Academic Writing 32

Voice in Academic Writing 35

Unpublishable Writing 37

Publishable Scholarly Writing 39

Preventing Plagiarism 41

Responsible Conduct of Research 44

Policies Concerning Simultaneous Submissions 45

Conclusion 46

3 From Trepidation to a First Draft 47

Creativity and Authorship 48

Identifying and Narrowing a Topic 48

Locating Suitable Outlets 51

Generating a First Draft 52

Seeking Feedback from Others 55

Why Manuscripts Are Rejected 55

Coping with Rejection 57

Getting the Writing Started 61

Conclusion 67

Part II Conference Proposals and Article Types

4 From Attending to Presenting at Conferences 71

About Professional Conferences 72

Five Steps from Presentation to Publication 73

Locating Suitable Venues for Making Presentations 74

Writing the Title and Abstract 76

Writing the Proposal 77

Distributing Materials to Session Participants 82

Writing and Presenting a Conference Paper 83

Preparing a Speech or Keynote Address 83

Refl ecting on Outcomes 85

Generating Publications from Presentations 86

Ethical Issues in Conference Presentations 87

Conclusion 89

5 From a Class Paper to a Publishable Review 91

Understanding Literature Reviews 94

Purposes for a Literature Review 95

Types of Literature Reviews 97

Developmental Sequence in Reviewing 97

Errors in Reviewing 98

Indicators of Quality in Literature Reviews 99

Thoroughness and Authoritativeness 99

Synthesis 101

Evaluative Criteria 102

Publishable Literature Reviews 103

Additional Resources on Writing Literature Reviews 107

The Position Paper 108

Examples of Position Papers 109

Literature Reviews from Dissertation Chapters 109

Conclusion 110

Contents

6 From Professional Experience to Expert Advice 113

The Practical Article as Continuing Professional Development 114

Planning Strategy for Practical Articles 115

Template for the Practical Article 122

Writing the Body of the Manuscript 123

Writing the Introduction and Conclusion 125

A Doctoral Student’s Publication of a Practical Article 125

Conclusion 132

7 From a Research Project to a Journal Article 133

Criteria for Quality in Quantitative Research 134

Structured Format and Content 135

Guidelines on Writing Each Section of the Quantitative Manuscript 137

Developing a Title 137

Writing an Abstract 138

Writing the Introduction for a Quantitative Study 139

Writing the Methodology Section 141

Data Analyses 142

Statistics 144

Reporting Results in a Quantitative Study 144

Discussion 146

Citations and References 146

Appendices 147

Acknowledgements 148

Overall Evaluation of a Quantitative Study 148

Preparing the Manuscript for Submission 150

Choosing Suitable Outlets 151

Conclusion 154

8 From Qualitative Research to a Journal Article 157

Understanding Qualitative Research 159

Qualitative Research Methodologies 162

Writing the Qualitative Research Report 162

Emergent Design 163

Writing the Introduction 164

Writing the Review of the Literature 164

Reporting on Sampling Strategies 165

Explaining Data Collection 165

Describing the Data Analysis 166

Writing About Findings 168

Writing the Discussion and Conclusion 169

Writing the Abstract 170

Evaluating Qualitative Studies 171

Conclusion 173

Contents

9 From Mixed-Methods Research to a Journal Article 175

Mixed Methods Research: The Third Paradigm 177

Approaches to Writing a Mixed Methods Research Study 181

Writing a Mixed Methods Research Report 182

Writing the Introduction 185

Review of the Related Literature 186

Methodological Framework 188

Writing the Methodology Section in Mixed Methods Research 190

Writing the Data Collection Section in Mixed Methods Research 191

Mixed Methods Research Data Analyses 192

Writing the Results Section of a Mixed Methods Study 192

Writing the Discussion 193

Validity Issues in Mixed Methods Research 193

Evaluating the Quality of Mixed Methods Research Reports 195

Mixed Methods Research Journals 196

Conclusion 196

Part III Writing as Professional Development

10 From Consumer to Producer of the Literature 201

Getting Involved in Book Projects 202

Reviewing Book Proposals and Book Manuscripts 203

Writing a Book Chapter 203

The Edited Book 204

Becoming a Book Author 207

Fulfi lling the Author’s Role 209

Selecting a Publisher 210

Proposing a Book 212

Securing a Book Contract 221

Conclusion 223

11 From a Single Work to Multiple Scholarly Spin-Offs 225

The Concept of Scholarly Productivity 226

Assessing the Creative Potential in Projects 227

Maximizing Scholarly Output 234

Grants as Writing Opportunities 238

Writing Tasks Associated with Grants 242

Building in an Assessment Plan 243

Ethical Aspects of Multiple Projects 244

Conclusion 246

12 From Outsider to Insider in Scholarly Publishing 249

Indicators of Quality in Publications 250

Quality Control Measures During Manuscript Submission 253

Serving as a Peer Reviewer 254

Identifying Reviewers 254

The Reviewer’s Role 255

Contents

Misconceptions About Anonymous Peer Review 256

Rendering Decisions About Manuscripts 258

Responding to Peer Review 258

Revising a Manuscript 259

Interacting with Editors 263

Evaluating Other Scholars’ Work 264

Fraudulent Publication 265

Becoming an Editor 268

Conclusion 271

13 From Novice to Expert 273

Meeting the Challenges of Writing 274

Levels of Concern Among Authors 275

Becoming an Academic Author 277

Scholarly Writing as a Project 279

Publishing During Doctoral Candidature 280

Increasing Opportunities to Publish from the Dissertation 281

Setting a Research Agenda 283

Collaborative Writing 285

Allocating Credit for Authorship 287

Dealing with Irresponsible Co-authors 289

Supports for Scholarly Authors 290

Writing Groups 290

Improving as a Writer 291

Conclusion 292

References 295

Contents

Introduction t o the Book

A group of higher education faculty members from different colleges and ments were participating in a 3-day professional development institute on writing for professional publication The pressure to publish was on at their institution, newly categorized as a university Prior to the mid-morning break on the fi rst day, the presenter asked the participants to write their concerns about publishing on Post-it notes and then read and categorized them before the group reconvened The great majority of the participants were worried about their ability to fulfi ll the esca-lating expectations for faculty Only a few had published previously and they won-dered if they were capable of writing well enough to publish their work As a way

depart-to allay their fears, the presenter offered depart-to assess a short writing sample from each participant that evening and return it the next day They had the choice of compos-ing something during the afternoon, or they could submit just a few pages from an unpublished manuscript The next morning, she announced, “Good news All of you have achieved a level of skill that is suffi cient to get you published.” The group’s response was relieved laughter and some skeptical looks so, while returning the papers with her written comments she said, “You realize, of course, that there is a huge selective bias operating in my favor here All of you have graduate degrees and nearly all have doctorates It’s doubtful that anyone could earn those degrees with-out solid writing skills Plus, all of you volunteered to take 3 days out of your busy schedule to learn about writing for publication This suggests that you are seeking out opportunities to learn or, at the very least, that you respond to helpful nudging from colleagues You also were candid about your concerns and decided to meet the challenges of writing together All of this bodes well for a successful outcome I will

do my absolute best to help you.”

Some of the concerns expressed by the participants in the professional ment session are no doubt shared by readers of this book This book’s purpose is identical to that of the presenter: to be helpful to academic writers from different backgrounds and at different levels of experience For scholars across the experien-tial spectrum that ranges from a new graduate student to a professor emeritus, writ-ing well and getting it published is a perpetually challenging, never-fi nished project Two questions have guided our writing effort The fi rst one was: “What is the book

that we wish we had found when fi rst attempting to write for publication?” and

second, “What book could meet the professional development needs of both ing and accomplished authors while simultaneously supporting senior faculty mem-bers who teach others how to write for publication?”

Unique Features of the Book

Writing for Publication: Transitions and Tools that Support Scholars’ Success has

several features that distinguish it from most other books on the topic of writing for publication

• Practical strategies and resources In the absence of clear direction, academic

authors may waste time fi guring out how to accomplish various writing tasks To illustrate, when authors are unfamiliar with the general structure of, expectations for, and importance of writing an abstract, they may produce an abstract that does not represent their work well The review committees of major conferences routinely reject proposals with poorly worded abstracts, and if the abstract for a journal article does not communicate effectively, negative comments from reviewers are the predictable outcome Many books about writing for publication tell the reader what is expected from scholarly writing; this book does more showing than telling Each chapter is replete with visual material that helps the reader to see how academic writing tasks are structured, provides illustrative examples, leads readers to online tutorials and other resources, and offers evidence- based advice

• An interdisciplinary approach Too often, when a diverse group of doctoral

students or faculty members assemble they put on their “disciplinary blinders” and assume that other scholars in their fi eld are the only ones who can help them publish their work While it is true that input from scholars within one’s disci-pline plays a key role, it is equally true that publishable scholarly writing—like effective university teaching––has dimensions of quality that transcend subject- matter boundaries The main sections in an empirical research article, for instance, are not discipline-specifi c Publications on various aspects of academic writing—such as reviewing the literature or reporting the results of qualitative research—are produced by researchers from very different disciplinary back-grounds yet have something of value for scholars in various fi elds We have explored sources across the disciplines to broaden the scope of the book and make it applicable to a wider readership

• A “paper mentor” purpose The fi scal realities of many postsecondary

institu-tions have diminished institutional support for faculty professional development The expense of bringing in consultants capable of supporting scholars’ writing for publication—or even the travel funds to gain access to these supports at pro-fessional conferences—is very limited Under these circumstances, many faculty members who are being urged to publish will need to teach themselves this skill

Introduction to the Book

set with the help of colleagues and print/nonprint resources This book is designed

to be a “paper mentor” that guides scholars in improving their writing

• A transitions perspective The thesis of this book is that growth as an academic

author relies on important transitions in writing behavior that transform aspiring authors into accomplished ones When carefully matched to the individual, these changes increase confi dence, bolster motivation, extend skill repertoires, and yield new opportunities For example, an author may seek to write a practical article for fellow professionals advocating a practice that will improve effective-ness This book includes a template that can be used to generate a fi rst draft and make a successful transition from a graduate student paper to a publishable prac-tical article (Chap 6 )

• A career-wide goal Even within a group of doctoral candidates enrolled in a

seminar that emphasizes academic writing, writers will operate at varying levels

of sophistication where scholarly publishing is concerned One student may have collaborated with a faculty member to present at a national conference Another may have been the newsletter editor for the local chapter of a professional orga-nization for many years Still another might be a graduate assistant who is col-laborating with a faculty mentor on a fi nal report for a grant project Learning to communicate effectively through published writing spans a continuum from those fi rst attempts to “break into print” (VanTil, 1986) all the way to books writ-ten by emeritus faculty during “retirement.” Therefore, each chapter offers sup-port to aspiring authors as well as to experienced scholars seeking continuous professional growth as authors

Rationale for the Book

For scholars at all levels across the disciplines, the expectation that they write well

is inescapable Whether it is writing a class paper, generating dissertation chapters, developing curriculum, producing an accreditation document, preparing a grant proposal, applying for a sabbatical leave, or publishing articles and books, scholars’ success rests on skill in written communication There are at least fi ve trends that make this an opportune time to produce a new type of book on writing for profes-sional publication

Expectations for Publication

Each successive generation of university faculty quickly becomes acquainted with the expectation that professors publish What they may not realize is that publica-tion is expected to occur, not after a faculty member is well established, but during doctoral study (Lee & Aitchison, 2011; Nettles & Millett, 2006) Many times, when the prospect of writing for publication is discussed with doctoral students, their

Introduction to the Book

Despite the obvious importance of academic publishing for contemporary toral students, acquiring the skills of scholarly writing presents an interesting para-dox Although a record of successful publication is widely recognized as a survival skill in Academia, most doctoral programs neglect this learning in their established curricula (Lovitts, 2008; Nolan & Rocco, 2009) The problem with this “ad hoc” approach is that it is not suffi ciently inclusive and systematic If faculty responsible for delivering doctoral programs fail to teach the skills of writing for professional

doc-publication in an inclusive and systematic way, “then we help to foster an invisible

elitism, charisma based, favouring those who ‘just know’ what the right thing to do might be—or who have family, friends and experienced or infl uential advisers to help them” (Morris, 1998, p 499) Writing for publication needs to become an inte-gral part of the doctoral curriculum for every student (Kamler & Thomson, 2006; Lee & Kamler, 2006) because:

doctoral publication is not a given It fl ourishes when it receives serious institutional tion, and skilled support from knowledgeable supervisors and others who understand aca- demic writing as complex disciplinary and identity work… Emerging scholars need to be supported in more explicit, strategic and generous ways than currently happens, so that we produce more confi dent graduates who know how to publish in a wide variety of contexts, including international refereed journals (Kamler, 2008, p 284, 292)

Yet it is not only students but also experienced faculty members who need port in writing for publication Even at institutions with strong traditions of empha-sizing effective teaching only, such as community colleges, there is a trend toward encouraging faculty to publish (Rifkin, 2016)

Increases Educational Attainment

Educational attainment—defi ned as the level of education achieved—has increased dramatically in the United States By 2022, the number of positions requiring the terminal degree in the discipline—the doctorate—is expected to increase by 20 % while the number of professional positions requiring a master’s degree will increase

by 22 % (Sommers & Franklin, 2012) Furthermore, due to the “graying of the

Introduction to the Book

professoriate” in the United States, postsecondary teaching is ranked 10th on the list

of occupations with the largest projected growth A 17 % increase—from 1.8 lion jobs in 2010 to 2.1 million jobs in 2020—is predicted (Sommers & Franklin, 2012) First-time enrollment of international students in the US graduate programs has increased approximately 8 % annually in recent years As larger numbers of graduate students pursue the terminal degree and more postsecondary faculty are hired, the demand for skills in scholarly writing and publishing can be expected to increase accordingly

Needs of Academic Authors

Learning to write effectively is a lifelong endeavor for scholars but can be larly challenging for new faculty members As one assistant professor put it, “I feel like my life is a see saw—with me at both ends always threatening to go way off balance in responding to professional or personal demands.” The challenges that newly minted PhDs confront in writing for publication are formidable First of all, they need to recoup their energy after wrestling a dissertation into being They typi-cally need to prepare for several different courses that are new to them, all the while knowing that both students and colleagues will be evaluating their teaching perfor-mance In addition, they have to contend with a steep learning curve to understand various dimensions of their role, such as student advisement, committee service, and program development They may conclude that it is better to “fi gure it out for themselves” than to pester busy colleagues with questions; they also recognize that the person to whom they expose their ignorance about writing for publication today might be evaluating them tomorrow

Under these conditions, writing for publication can sink low on the list of ties, particularly if professors have not published previously and few institutional supports are in place Little do these new faculty realize that misgivings about writ-ing for publication persist, even among their most prolifi c colleagues, particularly when the latter encounter unfamiliar writing tasks For example, the fi rst time I was invited to write the Foreword for a book I realized that I did not know how to do this

priori-I pulled at least a dozen books from my personal library to locate examples and read the forewords, attempting to infer the purpose and structure Then I e-mailed the editor to gently inquire if the publisher happened to have a particularly good example of what was expected The editor obliged by sending a scanned copy of a published foreword with her handwritten comments about the purpose and structure

re-in the margre-ins; it became my “textbook.” That short piece of writre-ing was a lenge and, because I was a beginner, exceptionally time-consuming Thus, at every stage of the academic author’s professional life, there are times when guidance and support are needed in order to initiate writing, sustain momentum, improve effi -ciency, and produce better manuscripts This book was written to shepherd scholars through these important transitions

chal-Introduction to the Book

Qualifi cations for Teachers of Scholarly Writing

Who is qualifi ed to teach others how to write for scholarly publication? Some may conclude that is must be one of the most respected academic authors in their fi eld However, that individual may not necessarily know how (or particularly want) to guide others in writing for professional publication Others may conclude that they should turn to a teacher of writing, such as an English professor However, those who teach composition to freshmen, a class in creative writing, or theory in Rhetoric and Linguistics to graduate students––while possessing knowledge about ways to teach writing––are not necessarily knowledgeable about the world of academic publishing Still others might conclude that a professional editor is the person most qualifi ed to teach scholars to write However, many editors employed by large pub-lishing companies are not teachers or writers themselves; they are business people whose continued employment depends on correctly forecasting which books will sell Ideally, those who presume to teach others scholarly writing would have:

1 Experience as a widely published scholar

2 Commitment to the professional development of adults

3 Understanding of the voice and style of academic discourse

4 Extensive and varied background in reviewing and editing

5 Skill in providing individualized feedback to authors that leads to manuscript improvement

6 A track record of reciprocally satisfying collaborative publications with dents, colleagues, and scholars from different disciplines and countries

Our anecdotal impression from speaking with other faculty members who teach courses in scholarly writing is that they often fi nd it diffi cult to locate suitable text-books and tools for teaching and learning the skill set of an academic author Some books about scholarly writing consist of advice from an eminent editor One limita-tion to books of this of this type is that they tend to rely on personal anecdotes and helpful hints as their main claim to authority Another drawback is that, even though these individuals have been successful, this does not mean that their personal work habits would be particularly instructive or appropriate for others Other books on scholarly writing are limited to a single writing task, such as an empirical research article, when aspiring and experienced authors need a more expansive introduction

to the many ways they might contribute to the professional literature Still other books about writing for publication are very focused on a single discipline, render-ing them less suitable for the most common teaching situation in which the back-grounds of the graduate students or faculty members interested in publishing are

diverse The overarching purpose of Writing for Publication: Transitions and Tools

that Support Scholars’ Success is to blend theory, research, and practice to support

the teaching and writing efforts of diverse groups of scholars involved in academic writing

Introduction to the Book

Audience for the Work

The audience for a book on writing for publication consists of novices and experts across the disciplines Academic authors at all levels need clear, practical, research- based guidance from author/editor experts to achieve their publication goals The new graduate student might need to learn how to write a proposal to get on the conference program for a state-level meeting while the student who has successfully defended a dissertation needs assistance in producing a concise journal article based

on the study At the same time, a newly hired professor will need a respectable list

of writing achievements to advance while a senior colleague from the same demic department might be seeking advice on how to propose and edit a volume for

aca-a book series Writing for Publicaca-ation: Traca-ansitions aca-and Tools thaca-at Support Scholaca-ars’

Success operates simultaneously on two different levels—as a resource for

schol-arly authors at various career stages as well as a resource for those who teach—informally or formally—other scholars to write

Organization of the Book

The book has been structured to correspond to a typical semester; each of the teen chapters describes a key transition that needs to be accomplished in order to become a successful scholar/author We begin with the people and the process—academic authors (Chap 1 ), expectations for and ethics in scholarly writing (Chap

2 ), and how to work more effi ciently (Chap 3 ) Chaps 4 5 6 7 8 , and 9 focus on major types of writing tasks for scholars The fi rst is the conference proposal (Chap

4 ) Then there is a section (Chaps 5 6 7 8 , and 9 ) on major categories of sional journal articles––literature reviews, practical articles, quantitative research articles, qualitative research, and mixed-methods research articles The third and

profes-fi nal section of the book focuses on making the transition from novice to expert It includes writing monographs, book chapters, scholarly books, and textbooks (Chap

10 ); grants and multiple writing projects (Chap 11 ); anonymous peer review and editing (Chap 12 ); and co-authorship and professional development (Chap 13 )

Goals for Readers

Through this book, we aim to help academic authors as we:

• Demystify the process of writing for publication

• Provide authoritative answers to questions about scholarly publishing

• Build readers’ confi dence that publication is within the realm of possibility for them

• Encourage readers to initiate, sustain, and complete academic writing tasks

Introduction to the Book

• Help authors to acquire the voice and style of academic discourse

• Guide writers in transitioning to the varied genre demands of scholarly publications

• Offer evidence-based advice on how to accomplish a wide range of writing projects

• Illustrate key ideas with helpful templates, examples, and activities

• Recommend print resources and online tools for writers

Writing for Publication: Transitions and Tools that Support Scholars’ Success

rep-resents a capstone experience for both of us We have invested decades of our fessional lifetimes in becoming better teachers, mentors, speakers, writers, researchers, reviewers, and editors We draw upon those practical experiences, sup-port them with interdisciplinary theory and research, and show how to make key transitions that yield better outcomes for scholars seeking to contribute to their

pro-fi elds by publishing their professional writing

Indiana , PA , USA Mary Renck Jalongo

Introduction to the Book

Part I

Professional Roles and Publishable Writing

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016

M Renck Jalongo, O.N Saracho, Writing for Publication,

Springer Texts in Education, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-31650-5_1

Chapter 1

From Aspiring Author to Published Scholar

Abstract This chapter orients readers to the rewards of writing and publishing,

both extrinsic and intrinsic The metaphors that prolifi c authors use to capture the essence of the writing task, as well as novice authors’ personal metaphors for writ-ing are examined Readers will progress through a number of different exercises designed to address obstacles to effective writing, such as lack of confi dence, con-cerns about writing skills, procrastination/avoidance of writing, time constraints, counterproductive habits, and challenges faced by academic authors writing in English as a second language

Each year, a leading professional organization sends out a letter to authors who have contributed a book to their association publications Tucked inside the envelope is a blue ribbon with the words “book author” stamped in gold capital letters; the top edge of the ribbon has an adhesive strip, suitable for affi xing it to the conference name badge At the annual conference, these ribbons frequently are fl anked by oth-ers that read “presenter” or “board member” and they are just as eye-catching among academics as medals and ribbons are among military personnel Yet even for these recognized and accomplished scholars, becoming a published author was once a faint, distant possibility At one time, they were intimidated by the process, assumed that publishing was for reserved for intellectual giants of the discipline, and felt that they had little to offer by comparison This chapter is all about more positive, pro-ductive ways of grappling with such misgivings by addressing the angst, risks, and rewards of scholarly writing It begins by exploring understandings of what it means

to be an academic author—defi ning the role and examining metaphors that capture the essence of the experience It then turns to the rewards and challenges of writing for publication and the writing habits that support authors in overcoming obstacles The chapter concludes with advice on working with a writing mentor and the types

of reasoning that are necessary to advance thinking in a fi eld

Who Is an Author?

How is the word “author” defi ned? Originally, the word was used more generally; it meant anyone who was the originator of something: Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defi ned authorship as “One who produces, creates, or brings into being.” Over time, defi nitions of the word author have become much more sharply focused on written

composition The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language online

defi nes an author as: “The original writer of a literary work One who practices ing as a profession” and adds “to assume responsibility for the content of a pub-lished text.” In Academia, authorship conforms to all of these meanings; it also becomes part of the job description for students and faculty Yet writing something original for publication and taking responsibility for it can be a daunting task Many times the papers produced while an undergraduate could best be described

writ-as “stringing pearls” of wisdom that have been gleaned from other sources While students are taught to cite those works appropriately, their assignments seldom refl ect much in the way of original thought Even at the master’s level, there is understandably more emphasis on acquiring familiarity with leaders in the fi eld than in generating something new Many students, academics, and fi rst time authors worry that they are pretenders who will be unmasked at some point

Activity 1.1: Feeling Like a Fraud

Do you sometimes worry that your ignorance will be exposed? Many times, ars seeking to publish fear that their performance on a task or in a particular situ-ation will expose just how incompetent they are beneath the façade These feelings are so commonplace that it has had a name since the 1970s: the imposter

schol-phenomenon (IP) Take the Clance IP Scale and get feedback on your responses

by clicking on the arrow at http://www.gradpsychdigital.org/gradpsych/201311?folio=24&pg=26#pg26 Read the article by Weir What strategies did you get for addressing the IP as it relates to scholarly writing and publication?

As Brookfi eld ( 2015 ) explains, authors can be particularly susceptible to this

“imposter phenomenon”, believing that their ideas do not matter and that they lack the requisite intellect, talent, and right to go into print Such misgivings may be intensifi ed for those from working class backgrounds (Muzzatti & Samarco, 2005 )

or fi rst generation graduate students (Davis, 2010 ; Ward, Siegel, & Davenport,

2012 ) Refl ecting on her graduate school days, Gabrielle Rico ( 1991 ) writes:

Writer I knew the word did not apply to me; inside my head was chaos I could not untangle

in my own words; I was only a cutter and a paster, a borrower, a fake While real writers shaped form and content, I felt little more than a hopelessly tangled fullness where ideas should be (p 4)

Yet if scholars pursue the doctorate and higher education, the single, most important expectation for their writing is that it “makes a contribution” and “advances think-ing in the fi eld.” Little wonder, then, that so many doctoral candidates falter at the dissertation stage and university faculty members balk at the pressure to publish

1 From Aspiring Author to Published Scholar

Metaphors for Academic Writing

Metaphors are a tool for capturing the essence of experience (Cameron, 2003 ; Thibodeau & Boroditsky, 2011 ) Noller ( 1982 ), for example, used the metaphor of

“a voiced scarf” to describe mentoring Just as a scarf surrounds the wearer in warmth and offers protection from the elements, a mentor can help a protégé to attempt new challenges and to avoid beginners’ mistakes When the idea of voice is added to the scarf, we can visualize it close to the wearer’s ear, whispering encour-agement, offering suggestions, or advising caution This captivating metaphor con-veys what the best mentors do for their protégés

Effective metaphors can provide a fresh perspective, suggest similarities, offer insights on how to redefi ne a problem, and effectively communicate a complex idea

to others (Hadani & Jaeger, 2015 ) Where academic authors are concerned, the aphors that they choose to represent their writing process frequently encapsulate their major concerns A doctoral candidate from the English Department chose a bulldozer at a landfi ll as her metaphor She likened the process to grim determina-tion, plowing through, rearranging heaps of ideas, and periodically backing up to bury useless material, with the warning beep sounding off the entire time

Activity 1.2: What’s Your Metaphor for Writing?

The symbol that you choose to represent your image of self as writer speaks umes about how you view experience the writing process What, then, is your metaphor for writing? What is it about this metaphor that aligns with your writ-ing experience?

In a focus group study of doctoral students conducted in the U.S., Canada, and Australia, doctoral students were invited to choose a metaphor to represent their writing process (Jalongo, Ebbeck, & Boyer, 2014 ) The students ranged in experi-ential level from those enrolled in their fi rst doctoral-level course to students who had recently defended their dissertations Among their choices were: a circle, a brick wall, a tree, an egg hatching, a milestone, and tending a vegetable garden Some additional metaphors for scholarly writing proposed by higher education fac-ulty and doctoral students have emphasized the hardships associated with writing: giving birth, burnt toast, and a jail sentence In their interview study of doctoral students, Nielsen and Rocco ( 2002 ) concluded that, because doctoral candidates generally are accustomed to getting positive feedback on papers, they struggled with constructive criticism of their written work These graduate students had not yet learned that real colleagues read for one another, not to seek uncritical approval, but as way to strengthen the overall quality of the manuscript

With time and experience, representations of the writing process often change as well After the English major who once viewed writing like operating a bulldozer

experienced success in academic writing, fi rst by publishing an article in College

Composition and Communication and later by transforming her qualitative

disserta-tion into a university press book about women in Appalachia (Sohn, 2006 ), her bulldozer metaphor no longer pertained As skills and confi dence with professional

Metaphors for Academic Writing

writing are built, the process becomes less onerous and the metaphors, more positive For example, a doctoral candidate who had successfully defended a dis-sertation now regarded writing as “a prestigious membership”, explaining that it was an honor and a pleasure to be able to share research with others As authors begin to relax with the process more, play with ideas, and learn which instincts to trust, new metaphors emerge:

Writing was hard, but I gritted my teeth and plowed ahead During those exhilarating and diffi cult years, I became aware of odd moments in which the less I plowed, the more the words fl owed I had only inklings, but these moments seemed to coincide with a tacit rejec- tion of what I was taught I began to pay attention The fl ow seemed to be triggered only when I gave myself over to that disconcerting chaotic fullness inside my head, acknowl- edged the untidy, sideways leaps of thought, let go of logic and prescriptions I liked the feeling, though it came all too rarely, like dreams of fl ying that cannot be forced (Rico,

1991 , pp 4–5)

Prolifi c authors have identifi ed metaphors for writing as well; writing expert Peter Elbow ( 1973 ) for example, has likened writing to growing plants, fi shing, and cook-ing while E L Doctorow has said, “Writing is like driving at night in the fog You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” Two metaphors used specifi cally with scholarly writing are detective work (Wallace

& Wray, 2011 ) and putting together a complex jigsaw puzzle (Nackoney, Munn, & Fernandez, 2011 ) A recurring theme in the metaphors and processes associated with writing is that, for many people, writing is a task they fi nd diffi cult to control;

as Rocco ( 2011 ) asserts, “Writing can be a miserable chore, a diffi cult undertaking, and a challenge that produces growth and satisfaction—all at the same time” (p 3) The process can be particularly arduous for writers who lack confi dence in their command of sophisticated academic writing skills (Swales & Feak, 2012 )

The Perquisites of Publishing

Writing for publication is widely recognized as an imperative for faculty members in different departments housed in colleges and universities throughout the world (Glatthorn, 2002 ; Wellington & Torgerson, 2005 ) In 1998, sociologist Morris cau-tioned graduate students, “your prospects later in life may depend on having a con-vincing number of refereed publications on your CV…sooner or later the moment will come when a selection committee will start counting your refereed articles and comparing them to those of other candidates” (p 501) Expectations for publication have increased considerably since these observations were made This pressure to publish not only affects faculty members; it also has trickled down to doctoral stu-dents who are urged to publish during doctoral candidature Indeed, some doctoral degree-granting institutions throughout the world accept publication in top-tier scholarly journals in lieu of the traditional dissertation as evidence of the candidate’s ability to plan and conduct research (Badley, 2009 ; European University Association,

2005 ; Francis, Mills, Chapman, & Birks, 2009 ; Lee & Aitchison, 2011 )

1 From Aspiring Author to Published Scholar

Consider the case of a faculty member has been employed for 4 years at a state university since she earned the doctorate Within 3 years, a tenure decision will be rendered As she reads the letter written by departmental colleagues that will go forward to the Dean with her portfolio, she feels proud of her achievements in teach-ing and service However, as she comes to the fi nal paragraph on scholarly work, her face fl ushes with embarrassment The letter is accurate; it states that she has made several presentations at conferences However, the fi nal paragraph concludes with:

“The committee urges Dr X to identify a research agenda and publish in the leading professional journals in her fi eld.” Her fi rst reaction is to protest with thoughts such

as, “But, my student evaluations were excellent; I’ve been concentrating on ing well and it shows.”, “I am serving on so many committees—unlike some of my colleagues—and just don’t’ have the time.”, and “What if I’m denied tenure? Maybe

teach-I should start applying at other institutions, just in case.” Why should she heed the committee’s advice?

Because it will contribute to expertise When someone raises a question and the respondent just happens to have written a paper on that topic, a well thought-out answer is much easier to formulate That is because writers have organized their thinking on the subject and understand the information in a deeper way The same dynamic holds true when teaching a class; if a professor has written about the topic already, that is a huge head start in preparing for class Although nonwriters take the stance that research competes with effective teaching that need not be the case (Hattie & Marsh, 1996 ; Lindsay, Breen, & Jenkins, 2002 ) A research agenda—defi ned as a short- and long-term plan for inquiry, writing, and publishing—can be deliberately planned to correspond to teaching responsibilities so that teaching and writing enrich and enlarge one another (Boyer, Moser, Ream, & Braxton, 2015 ; Jalongo, 1985 ) In fact, there is a whole line of research referred to as “the scholar-ship of teaching and learning” (SoTL) that aims to strengthen linkages between research and teaching (Starr-Glass, 2015 ) (For more detail about the research agenda, see Chap 13 )

Because it is attached to the rewards system Publication in a respected journal demonstrates that authors have thought through an issue and presented it in schol-arly way and that their peers are willing to hear them out, through writing While publishing in top journals also has a statistically signifi cant effect on income (Hilmer

& Hilmer, 2005), many new scholars are surprised to fi nd out that—unlike per reporters or writers for popular magazines—they are not paid to write profes-sional journal articles There are several reasons why this is the case First of all, journals often are published by nonprofi t professional organizations; they refer to their authors as “contributors” for good reason; they are freely sharing their work as

newspa-a service to the profession Secondly, the fi nnewspa-ancinewspa-al rewnewspa-ards thnewspa-at university fnewspa-aculty get for publishing typically emanate from their employers; scholarly works sub-jected to anonymous peer review play a pivotal role in tenure and promotion decisions (Rocco & Hatcher, 2011 ) Third, there is a long tradition of expecting scholars to pursue the truth rather than be infl uenced by the promise of compensation

The Perquisites of Publishing

When scholars write books for commercial publishers, there is compensation in the

form of royalties; however, unlike a New York Times best seller, the audience for

scholarly publications is quite small, so book royalties are almost never a major income boost or a route to early retirement Nevertheless, if a book is successful, it frequently leads to other forms of compensation—such as supported travel to deliver

a keynote address at an international conference or university support for a cal leave

Because it creates positive energy Academic life can be exhilarating; it also has many disappointments Success with writing is an achievement that bolsters confi -dence and increases motivation; it also opens up new possibilities The doctoral candidate whose research poster was accepted for a conference starts to imagine success with a presentation at a research forum while the professor who has pub-lished articles in a respected journal starts to consider editing a book and contribut-ing a chapter At its most basic, education is about widening opportunities and, as each writing milestone is attained, possibilities for professional development expand

Because it will build satisfying professional networks Throughout a career, department colleagues can be helpful and supportive—or not If a student relies on classmates and a professor relies exclusively on departmental colleagues as a source

of validation and support, it is bound to be lacking at some point Affi liating with minded individuals through scholarly work offers a professional safety net These people can support professional goals and are capable of providing a fresh perspective

like-on troublesome issues While it is important to be regarded as a resplike-onsible university citizen at the home institution, establishing a professional network beyond the local context can exert a powerful, positive infl uence on career satisfaction Across their professional lives, faculty members who have learned to balance teaching, writing, research, and service not only exhibit high levels of publication productivity but also enjoy their careers more than colleagues who focus on just one facet of academic life (Boice, 1992 ) These advantages cannot be realized, however, unless scholars make a plan to meet the challenges associated with various writing tasks

The Challenges of Scholarly Writing

Without a doubt, writing for publication is a challenge whether the scholar is new or experienced While some individuals may have strength in verbal/linguistic intelli-gence (Gardner, 2006 ) they will need much more than raw talent in order to suc-ceed To illustrate, there are many instances of athletes or singers who obviously possess talent yet do not accomplish much with it That is because success relies on wide range of infl uences such as social capital, work ethic, resilience in the face of failure, and responsiveness to coaching Talent alone will not suffi ce; creativity also depends on variables such as motivation, interest, effort, and opportunity

1 From Aspiring Author to Published Scholar

By defi nition, a craft is a repertoire of skills that is honed by intensive effort and deliberate practice It is for this reason that many experts on writing regard it as a craft rather than a talent Ernest Hemingway, the great American novelist once said,

“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.” What makes mastery so out-of-reach, even for those with a widely acclaimed fl air for writing? Evidently, for most of us, it has to do with a destructive combination of ingredients: negative attitudes toward writing, fear of taking a risk, and low expectations for success

Research on writing anxiety and writer’s block suggests that negative feelings about writing are most intense when we are transitioning to a different writing task (Hjortshoj, 2001) Unfortunately, the infl uences that increase writing anxiety are demanded of academic authors all at once: writing about new topics, with a differ-ent author’s voice, in an unfamiliar format, and for a more public audience These new task demands are apt to yield at least some of the negative feelings identifi ed by writing experts (Elbow, 2002 ; Flower & Hayes, 1981 ) in Fig 1.1

Another downside of writing has to do with what might be considered vagaries,

a term that the Cambridge Dictionaries defi nes as “ unexpected events or changes that cannot be controlled and can infl uence a situation .” They give the example of

“The success of the event will be determined by the vagaries of the weather ” At times, the outcomes of scholarly writing can seem almost as diffi cult to control as

avoidance, procrastination, disappointment

getting stuck, feeling helpless

fear, worry, anxiety, turmoil

rambling, digressing, drifting

feeling overwhelmed, swamped

confusion, disorientation, awkwardness

lack of control, chaos

Fig 1.1 Negative feelings frequently attributed to writing

The Challenges of Scholarly Writing

the weather Scholarly writing can be such unpredictable enterprise that, out of sheer desperation, authors sometimes resort to bizarre rituals to bring a manuscript into existence (see Becker, 2007 ; Belcher, 2009 )

Part of the explanation for feeling overwhelmed by writing is that multi-layered internal “scripts” are running as we write An author can be simultaneously wonder-ing if he is going off on a tangent, deciding if a word is spelled correctly, making a mental reminder to track down a citation, worrying that the structure of the piece isn’t working very well, or thinking that he defi nitely needs to invest in a new offi ce chair All of this input can lead to cognitive overload as authors to decide which thought to act upon fi rst, which to silence, and how to push forward Responses to these feelings can be as different as writers themselves It is common to feel “ner-vous, jumpy, [and] inhibited” when we write because we are trying to edit and write

at the same time (Elbow, 1973 , p 5) More often than not, the feeling tone of writing

is grim determination rather than the liberating sense that the words are fl owing and the writing is going well Little wonder, then, that writers can come up with so many excuses and ways to escape Replacing less productive habits with more productive ones is a major hurdle

Personal Writing Habits

Each prospective academic author arrives with a set of strategies for producing a manuscript and coping with negative feelings associated with writing They bring along some assumptions about “what works” for them—which may or may not be accurate For instance, a student may have managed, in the past, to procrastinate and use the pressure of deadlines to generate a passable paper; however, manuscripts prepared in haste do not compare favorably with others submitted for publication that were revised and polished It is no mistake that the word “fl ow” is used to describe effective writing; it means that the words and the logic proceed smoothly,

in the manner of a fl uid Writing that fl ows moves the reader along without stalling, stopping, going off on a tangent, or leaving unanswered questions in the reader’s mind It has a defi nite beginning, a satisfying conclusion, and a clear line of reason-ing that connects the two Use the information in Table 1.1 to assess your compos-ing style

Which of the approaches best describes your general approach to producing a manuscript? What changes do you anticipate will be necessary to become a pub-lished author?

Activity 1.3: A Diagram of Your Writing Habits

Think about the process that you normally use to write a paper Make a diagram that illustrates that process Which part of that process is the most time-consuming? Does tackling a new type of writing (e.g., writing a practical article, creating a poster session on a research project, writing a book chapter) change that process and, if so, how?

1 From Aspiring Author to Published Scholar

Of course, the nature of the writing task infl uences approaches to writing as well For example, one of my doctoral advisees had studied parent/teacher conferences for her dissertation so I* proposed that we write an article for the National Parent- Teacher Association that could also be produced as a brochure for families on how

to make the most of these important meetings (Brown & Jalongo, 1987) We found that the task required a very tight, sequential organization because everything we wanted to say needed to fi t on a tri-fold brochure The fact that I tend to be a “dis-covery drafter” made this diffi cult Situations such as this explain why writing expert Donald Murray ( 2001 ) argues that writers fi rst need to “unlearn” many of the rules they have been taught in school Contrary to common teaching practices, his perspective on the writing process can be summarized as follows:

• Authors do not need to know, in advance, what they want to say before they

begin to write; rather, they should begin writing right away to discover what they

have to say

• Writing does not have to begin with an outline; rather, a detailed outline can be

produced from the work after it has been written well

• Correctness is unimportant in the fi rst draft; rather, focus on the content while drafting and address errors during revision and the fi nal edit

• Editing for spelling, grammar, and typos does not count as revision; rather, sion is rethinking/rewriting in substantive ways

revi-• Academic authors should not imitate the verbose, diffi cult to read writing they sometimes see in print They should strive make their writing clear, accessible, and suited for the intended audience

• There is not one, linear writing process to which all writers ought to conform; rather, there are as many writing processes as there are authors

* Note : Throughout this book , I refers to the fi rst author ’ s experience

Table 1.1 Composing styles

Heavy planners —“plan their work and work their plan”; they invest the greatest amount of

time in mapping out the manuscript in advance They often are capable of mentally planning their work while engaged in other activities and invest the bulk of their writing time in the preparation

Heavy revisers —write as if their words were on the surface of a sphere and roll them around to

arrive at the “right” way to tackle the manuscript They devote less time to planning or, may make a plan but not follow it They revise a manuscript into being by continually cutting, pasting, and experimenting with ways to communicate ideas They sometimes feel that their writing is never really fi nished

Sequential composers —devote approximately equal amounts of time to the various phases of

writing—planning, drafting, and revising They derive their confi dence from adhering to a linear, well organized approach to writing

Procrastinators —rely on an imminent deadline to force them to get the manuscript written

They believe they do their best work under pressure and enjoy the thrill of averting disaster

Discovery drafters —seek to capitalize on unexpected ideas because they regard these as the

source of creativity in their work They use writing as a tool for discovering original ideas and write to discover what they have to say

Adapted from Richards and Miller ( 2005 )

Personal Writing Habits

Counteracting Obstacles to Scholarly Writing

There are many fears associated with writing for publication “The fear that grips someone who wants to write is usually not undifferentiated and monolithic but a composite of smaller fears With time and thought, some can be resolved; others can

be shooed back under their rocks or even coaxed into harness and put to work” (Rhodes, 1995 , p 8) The more that these writing tasks are high-risk and connected

to the attainment of an important professional goal, such as doctoral program pletion or tenure and promotion, the more unnerving they can become

Fear, risk, and worry are associated with writing in the minds of many an demic author (Thesen & Cooper, 2014 ) During writing for publication professional development workshops for academic authors, the deterrents to writing for publica-tion they identify tend to echo that fear/risk/worry theme They harbor worries that the work will be rejected, misgivings about the time invested, concerns that they had nothing of importance to say, uncertainty about how to write for publication, or lack

aca-of confi dence in writing skills Perhaps most paralyzing aca-of all is the nagging doubt that all of the effort will come to nothing if the work is rejected Risk creeps in as writers realize that the stakes have been raised, for now it is more than “just writ-ing”, it is the quality of their thinking that is being judged Finally, there is the worry that, after their attempt at writing is shared with peers, they will look foolish and others will talk about them (Richards, 2007 ) Such worries may be intensifi ed when scholars have a disability

Online Tool Listen as writing expert Thomas Newkirk discusses the concept

of “unlearning writing at: http://creativewritinginamerica.weebly.com/unlearning-to- write.html What will you need to unlearn?

Online Tool Worries about writing often are exacerbated when the author has

a disability Read the advice of Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, “Writing for Publication: An Essential Skill for Graduate Students with Disabilities” http://www.apa.org/pi/disability/resources/writing.aspx

1 From Aspiring Author to Published Scholar

Those who are published have developed effective coping mechanisms that pel their professional growth rather than being paralyzed by fear Even as we wrote this book, we found ourselves sending encouraging e-mails, based on the coping strategies we had learned over the years, such as “write the part you are most excited about fi rst” or “let’s exchange chapters and edit for one another.” As Christensen ( 2000 ) notes, both with writing and with teaching, “there are victories to celebrate

pro-and inevitable gaps to mourn… as in life, a luta continua : the struggle continues”

(p x) Strategies that will address the most common misgivings about writing for publication follow

Implement Evidence-Based Strategies

If you honestly feel that your writing abilities are comparatively rudimentary then

go back to the basics For instance, a meta-analysis of research on improving ondary students’ writing identifi ed several powerful, positive infl uences on the improvement of writing (Deane, Odendahl, Quinlan, Welsh, & Bivens-Tatum,

2008 ) that we have clustered together here:

• A change in writing habits : replacing less productive planning, revising and

edit-ing habits with more practical and effective strategies

• Modifi cations to the writing context : participating in writing workshops in which

authors write together and review one another’s work rather than working in isolation

• More emphasis on idea generation : using prewriting activities to organize ideas

before beginning to write

• A focus on the process : setting specifi c, attainable, intermediate goals for a piece

of writing rather than being preoccupied with the fi nished product

• Use of writing models : studying examples of the genre that merit emulation

Table 1.2 suggests some writers’ tools that can help to break away from less tive habits

produc-Counteracting Obstacles to Scholarly Writing

Table 1.2 Strategies for getting started

Play with titles —Many authors make the mistake of working without a title for an extended

period of time If you get a precise title to begin with, it can save quite a bit of rewriting and wasted effort Remember that your title should be consistent with the manuscript’s purpose, avoid repeating words, and should not exceed 12 words

Interview —Pretend that someone is interviewing you about the manuscript you are preparing

Generate a list of questions that require critical refl ection and be certain to answer the “so what?” question—why others should care about this topic/focus (Nackoney, Munn, &

Fernandez, 2011 )

Cubing —Generate six ideas for each side of a cube—but don’t evaluate them at fi rst This

brainstorming technique is designed to jumpstart idea generation As a fi nal step, go back to select the best ones to pursue

The Five Ws —To begin generating ideas, use the journalist’s Who, What, When, Where, and

Why questions and answer each one

Clustering —Go through notes to identify groups of related ideas and cut and paste them into a

semblance of an organization Might these clusters suggest the main sections of your

manuscript? If so, write headings for them

Plus / Minus / Interesting ( P / M / I ) chart —Analyze your topic in three columns: the positives

(plus), the negatives (minus), and the puzzling or surprising (interesting)

Choose the best sentences —Ask someone else to read for you and highlight the best sentences

Take a look at the ones they selected and analyze their characteristics You may fi nd, for example, that these sentences are shorter Go back and modify or cull out several sentences that were not identifi ed

Read aloud —Reading aloud—to yourself or in the company of a writers’ circle—is a good

check on cadence, variety, pacing, punctuation errors, and sentence length

Chronological —Look at a specifi c topic from the perspective of past/present/future to organize

thinking

Smart art —On the toolbar in Word, click on Insert and then SmartArt Here you’ll fi nd many

different ways to generate visual display for ideas, categorized by type (i.e., process, hierarchy, relationship) Try organizing your ideas for a manuscript or a table or fi gure for the manuscript with one of these tools

Conclusion / introduction swap —It sometimes is the case that ideas about the paper become

much clearer as you go along Try moving what was your conclusion to the beginning as a way

to focus and cut down on a lengthy introduction

“ Invisible ” writing —If you cannot break the habit of editing as you write, turn off your monitor

display and just type your ideas freely to get some text generated Do not “edit as you go”; the goal is to get ideas down on paper

Argue for / against —To support the goal of producing a balanced argument, begin by generating

a list of reasons for and against an idea that you are suggesting If you anticipate objections and generate responses to them from the start, you can provide a stronger argument

SCAMPER —is an acronym used to stimulate creativity and introduce more novel ideas into

your work It stands for substitute, combine, adapt, modify/magnify/minify, put to another use, eliminate, and reverse or rearrange ( http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCT_02.htm ) The purpose is to break out of linear thinking

Adapted from: Jalongo ( 2002 ) and Strickland ( 1997 )

1 From Aspiring Author to Published Scholar

Deal with Impatience and Uncertainty

One nearly certain way to give up on a writing session is to allow thoughts such as,

“What right do I have to speak?” or “Why am I wasting my time? I’ll never get published!” to creep in Authors need to banish “the psychological carnivores that prey upon confi dence” and have “Faith in our subject matter, faith that needed lan-guage resides in us, faith that our meaning making through writing is worthwhile” (Romano, 2000 , p 30, p 20) Successful authors have learned to stay in the moment rather than dwelling the other things they might be doing instead Convince yourself that writing is what you are doing now and commit yourself to doing only those tasks that will support the writing effort When the composing process is stalled or unproductive, switch to a different task Go back and search the literature or check references, for example, rather than stare at a blinking cursor waiting for inspira-tion Many people mistakenly assume that “real” writers need only write down the brilliant, perfectly worded sentences that spring to mind However, one reason that writing is categorized as a process and a craft is that writers write (and revise) ideas into being

Another way of subduing impatience is to decode your optimal work habits Relegate tasks with fewer cognitive demands (for example, answering routine stu-dent questions about assignments) to less-than-peak mental performance times and reserve writing for times when your brain feels “fresh” Instead of setting unrealistic goals (e.g., “I’m going to write a publishable article this weekend”), set very modest objectives (e.g., “I’m going to take some notes on what I’ve read and categorize them”, “I think I’ll reread and experiment with a different organizational structure today.” or “I’m going to play around with article titles because I have to be at this boring meeting.”)

Cope with Time Constraints

After I was encouraged to submit a proposal for a book on controversial issues in education for practitioners, I contacted doctoral candidates and recent program alumni to contribute chapters Publication was just about guaranteed and all of stu-dents and former students delivered the chapters on time and in good shape, even though all of them were busy professionals with full-time jobs This example illus-trates that time is not the issue Every human being on the planet, no matter how accomplished, has the same 24 hour day to work with; the difference is in how that time is allocated Consider a study of faculty in the fi eld of dentistry; the number one reason that unpublished faculty gave for failing to write was lack of time (Srinivasan, Poorni, Sujatha, & Kumar, 2014 ) Yet if time is the only variable, are

we then to assume that those who publish aren’t as busy as their unpublished

Counteracting Obstacles to Scholarly Writing

Most scholarly writing is accomplished between classes, over the weekend, in the wee hours, and during breaks when no one takes notice Try keeping a log of how you actually spend your time; many people watch television for several hours throughout the week and this might be a place to begin Look also at otherwise wasted time, such as sitting in a doctor’s offi ce, making a long commute, or waiting

at a sporting event Keep a “writer’s bag” with whatever you need—voice recorder, tablet computer, note paper, laptop, or paper copy of a manuscript draft—so that you can use this time productively Consider doing two things at once, such as read-ing and marking passages with post-it notes while riding an exercise bike or dictat-ing ideas while on a treadmill Even the hugely successful children’s book author of the Harry Potter series, J K Rowling, observes: “The funny thing is that, although writing has been my actual job for several years now, I still seem to have to fi ght for time in which to do it Some people do not seem to grasp that I still have to sit down

in peace and write the books, apparently believing that they pop up like mushrooms without my connivance.” Another way to “make” time for writing is to approach your writing as you would any other important appointment A highly successful university professor once said, “The best advice that my mentor/colleague gave to

me was to put writing time on my calendar and guard it just as zealously as classes, meetings, and other important appointments.” Accept the simple fact that scholars

do not experience success with a manuscript unless they fi rst lavish time on it Time

is a precious resource When writers are stingy with their time, their results tend to

be paltry

Get Past Procrastination and Avoidance

Most people are reluctant to attempt a task unless they think they have a better than 50/50 chance of succeeding (Brim, 1992 ) Writing is the focus of considerable pro-crastination and outright avoidance because expectations for success may be low Little wonder, then, that if you wait until the task is insurmountable—such as writ-ing a dissertation a few months before the 7-year time limit expires or producing a book during a one-semester sabbatical leave—you cannot bring yourself to sit down and write That is because what psychologists refer to as “appraisal emotions” have been activated and the assessment is that the task is categorized as having a low probability of success The predictable response is that writers quickly convince

1 From Aspiring Author to Published Scholar

Where time is concerned, another common mistake is to wait for the mythical

“someday”; that time after the children are grown, after the degree program is fi ished, or release time is offered Yet waiting to begin ultimately limits opportunities

n-to improve as a writer and, if “someday” does arrive, the skill set may not equal n-to the task Over the years, I have attended many a retirement event where an unpub-lished professor indicates that he or she will now have the time and start writing To date, that has never happened The reason for this is that writing is not some simple leisure time hobby that can be casually pursued If professors have not written when there were extrinsic rewards attached to successful publication and pressure to pub-lish then it is highly unlikely that they would be intrinsically motivated to write Becoming a published scholar is founded on genuine engagement with the disci-pline and a deliberately developed set of skills (Starr-Glass, 2015 ) not free time and serendipity

The harsh reality is that, where university faculty members are concerned, any

substantial form of support for writing occurs after faculty members demonstrate

that they know how to publish in their respective fi elds Model your writer’s work habits, not after famous novelists or the most celebrated contributors in your fi eld, but based on what you can realistically tolerate at any particular point A new assis-tant professor, for instance, worked on a single article throughout the fall and spring, obtained feedback from several readers, and fi nalized the work during the summer when his teaching load was not as heavy It was not until several years later that he had suffi cient confi dence and skill as an academic author to juggle multiple writing projects Yet because he had started early and persisted, his confi dence and skill were built

Address Aversion to Writing

People who see themselves as poor writers typically have had some bad experiences

as learners One strategy for overcoming this is to intentionally avoid writing—at least at fi rst For example, when a doctoral student and school superintendent con-fessed to “hating to write”, the instructor recommended that he read, interview

Counteracting Obstacles to Scholarly Writing

fellow administrators, and dictate into a voice recorder to motivate himself to write

a practical article The article was published in Principal magazine and earned a

national award from Educational Press Association Rather than allowing echoes of past writing failures to inhibit future efforts, implement some new approaches Someone may have told you that: You must have a perfect fi rst sentence You have

to begin at the beginning You need to use all of the jargon and multisyllabic words you can think of to impress others Try breaking all of these rules that have been infl icted on others by nonwriters Begin by refl ecting on your past as a writer using the questions in Activity 1.4

Activity 1.4: Your Personal Writing History

What do you remember about being taught to write as a child, an undergraduate, and

a graduate student? How would you characterize the feedback that you received

on your writing from teachers? What types of writing tasks are you now expected

to do in your professional life? How did you learn to accomplish those writing tasks? Are there some writing habits that you need to change or acquire? Those who hate writing tend to view the process in a very simplistic way: they turn in a hastily prepared manuscript, someone in authority identifi es all of the defi -ciencies, and then the manuscript is returned to them with a negative evaluation One of the best ways to confront an aversion to writing is to recognize that, while the process used in the past was inadequate and unsatisfying, writers are capable of dramatic change Rather than approaching the writing task as a collection of rules, accept that scholars are expected to revise their work and fi nd their own mistakes Technology certainly can support these efforts, yet many writers do not take the time to run the spell or grammar check feature of their word processing programs

or, worse yet, ignore the wavy green underline that identifi es possible errors Another issue that surfaces is resisting recommendations for improvement in the manuscript Doctoral students may be unwilling to let go of the way that they wrote

to get through their master’s degree programs and protest with, “But, this is the way

I write” Likewise, the majority of scholars who submit their work to a publisher are asked to revise and encouraged to resubmit Henson ( 2007 ) estimated that nearly

70 % of the manuscripts that were revised and resubmitted were accepted for cation; for those who withdraw the manuscript, the publication rate is zero A rec-ommendation for revision is an invitation, not a rejection It means that the editor and reviewers see publication potential and are giving you another chance to make the work even better Nevertheless, personal experience with editing a journal since

publi-1995 suggests that the vast majority of authors fail to follow through when they get recommendations for revision

Online Resource For more advice on rethinking writing, see www.discoverwriting.com

1 From Aspiring Author to Published Scholar

Put Perfectionism on Hold

The instructor for a doctoral seminar on writing for publication taught the course for over 20 years and was well known for giving a very different kind of feedback on students’ papers At the fi rst class meeting, students were advised to “erase the expectation” that the way they had written in the past would suffi ce, to expect numerous rewrites, and to be patient with the process Yet year after year, all of the students arrived with the experience of submitting papers and getting them back with an “A” grade When comments were returned on their fi rst attempts to produce

a journal article, consternation reigned Some argued that other professors had uated their work to date as excellent; a few professors even had written the heady comment, right on their papers, “You should try to get this published.” Were the other faculty members too lenient or was their current instructor just too demand-ing? It could be a bit of both Sometimes, professors are responding to an exception-ally good student paper and, if the person who wrote this comment is not an active scholar with knowledge of publishing then yes, it is a compliment but it might not

eval-be an accurate appraisal of the work’s publication potential In any case, authors need to develop a “thick skin” rather than taking criticism personally Approach rewrites as ways to improve an already good manuscript and make yourself look smarter Too often, students equate many written comments with poor evaluation rather than a sincere commitment to supporting their growth as writers

Perfectionism also causes writers obsess about the fi nished product They ously think that “good” writers blithely churn out articles and books and that they must be “bad” writers because they struggle Clarity, coherence, insight, and bril-liance are not where writers start but they are a destination they can reach through many, many rewrites It is rare to produce even one paragraph of scholarly writing that is ready to be published, just as it was originally drafted, without editing Authors capable of doing this are like people who can do mathematical computation “in their heads”—they complete quite a bit of mental editing before committing it to paper Another issue has to do with abundance One high school English teacher (Keizer, 1996 ) made this point to his class by cutting into a tomato He noted that, while just one seed is necessary to produce another plant, there are hundreds of seeds inside In nature, as in writing, abundance is the starting point Sometimes, writers assume that, if the goal is to write a journal article of about 20 double-spaced pages, they should not write more than 20 pages at the outset However, fl uency—the sheer number of ideas generated—is a key characteristic of creative thought When too much time is invested in generating a restricted number of words, the author becomes more wedded to them and is reluctant to revise as needed (Elbow,

1973 ) Thus, authors fi rst need to generate quite a bit of text and then set about deciding what keep and what to toss away Fortunately, with time and experience, this process becomes more effi cient

Online Tool Read Jim Hoot and Judit Szente’s ( 2013 ) advice to new authors

on “avoiding professional publication panic”

Counteracting Obstacles to Scholarly Writing

Be Realistic About Criticism

Academic authors would do well to abandon the fantasy that the editor’s and ers’ responses to their manuscript will be, “Please, don’t change a word” An editor with 25 years of experience editing a journal reported that she could recall just fi ve occasions when this was the response of three independent reviewers to a manu-script and, in every case, the author was one of the most highly regarded experts in the nation Accept that the act of submitting a manuscript invites critique and that a recommendation to “revise and resubmit” is a positive outcome Too often, authors allow their feelings to be hurt, withdraw the manuscript rather than make the requested revisions, or fi re off an indignant, defensive e-mail to the editor Just as a professor does not expect a standing ovation at the conclusion of each class taught, writers should not expect uncritical acceptance of each manuscript submitted

review-Accept that writing is not the most time-consuming part of the process; it is

rewrit-ing a manuscript and revisrewrit-ing it signifi cantly 15 times or more that is the most

chal-lenging Those disappointing early drafts can be revised into something publishable, but all of this needs to occur before the work is formally submitted to an editor and reviewers

Online Tool Read “Writers on Rewriting” for some quotations from some of

the most celebrated authors on About Education at: http://grammar.about.com/od/advicefromthepros/a/rewritequotes.htm

Too often, the same authors who are reluctant to share a manuscript face-to-face with a respected colleague are emboldened by the anonymity of peer review With the technology tools now used by most professional publishers, authors truly can submit a manuscript at the touch of a button It is easy to get sick and tired of a manuscript and want to check it off the “to do list” It almost never works to submit what is admittedly a very fl awed manuscript in the hope that reviewers and editors will tidy it up or lead the author out of muddleheaded thinking Perhaps the two most important things writers can do to improve chances of publication success are to: (1) let the manuscript “sit” for a while, return to it, and revise—even after it shows every indication of being ready to submit—and (2) solicit the input of a known audience before the work is sent to an unknown audience

Seek Out More Knowledgeable Others

When learners are determined to achieve mastery, they can be expected to ask tions, watch demonstrations, participate in simulations, conduct observations, seek coaching, and practice Many academic authors treat writing as a form of

ques-1 From Aspiring Author to Published Scholar

self-imposed isolation that keeps them away from family and friends While it is true that there will be times when authors need to be free from distractions and work alone, writing has a social aspect to it as well Successfully published authors have learned to capitalize on social support The opportunity to work with a person who has been highly successful with the task you are tackling for the fi rst time and wants

to help you is a boon to growth as a writer Just as sea faring sailors relied on others

to literally “show them the ropes”, less experienced authors can turn to more rienced writers to fi guratively show them the ropes of scholarly publishing Although

expe-it may be assumed that mentors are older and protégés are younger, age is not the important variable, experience is So, an untenured professor might be mentoring a tenured faculty member on the use of technology or grant writing because the younger person has more experience with these tasks

Academic authors often experience their fi rst success with publishing through co-authorship For students, this collaboration frequently is with the supervisors of their graduate assistantship or dissertation and for faculty members, the collabora-tion often is with a more experienced departmental/university colleague or a co- author from another institution identifi ed through networking (Levin & Feldman,

2012 ) Just as it is easier for many people to follow a GPS than a road map, ing by more experienced academic authors calculates that route Table 1.3 outlines the mentor/protégé relationship as it pertains to academic writing

Research conducted by Cho, Ramanan, and Feldman ( 2011 ) concluded that standing mentors: (1) exhibit admirable personal qualities (enthusiasm, compas-sion, and selfl essness); (2) guide careers in ways tailored to the individual; (3) invest time through regular, frequent, and high-quality interactions; (4) advocate achieving balance in personal/professional lives; and (5) leave a legacy of mentoring through role modeling, standards and policy-making

Activity 1.5 Working with a Writing Mentor

Working with a writing mentor is an informal contract that must be built on cal trust and respect As you review the guidelines in Table 1.3 , identify one or more people who would be effective writing mentors

Online Tool Check the University of Michigan’s pdf’s for protégés How to

Get the Mentoring You Want www.rackham.umich.edu/downloads/publications/mentoring.pdf and, for mentors, How to Mentor Graduate Students www.rackham.umich.edu/downloads/publications/Fmentoring.pdf

Writing arrangements between scholars should not be entered into lightly The best advice is to check up on people before agreeing to work with them and to choose any writing partner very carefully

Counteracting Obstacles to Scholarly Writing

Use Higher-Order Thinking

In all of the conversations about writing for publication, the types of thinking that are required are sometimes eclipsed by the worries about the little things, such as spell-ing, punctuation, grammar, and proofreading Table 1.4 highlights the reasoning pro-cesses that undergird successful academic authorship and make a contribution

Nonnative and Native Speakers of English

Nonnative speakers of English frequently have additional concerns about writing and publishing scholarly work While efforts to publish scholarly work exist around the globe, English has become the language, not only of business and industry, but also of research (Lillis & Curry, 2010 ) Even scholars located outside of Anglophone contexts may be required to publish in high-status English journals in order to advance professionally (Kwan, 2010 ) In fact, so many scholars whose fi rst lan-guage is not English are now required to use English for research and publication that there is terminology for it: English for Research Publication Purposes (ERPP) (see Flowerdew, 2014 ) While just 5–9 % of the world population has English as their fi rst language, nearly 80 % of the scientifi c articles world-wide are published

in English language journals (Montgomery, 2004 ) However, in some ways, even

Table 1.3 The mentor/protégé relationship in academic writing

Criteria for selecting a writing mentor

Is trustworthy, respected, and has a reputation for treating others fairly

Has successful experience with publishing

Wants to support the protégé in achieving writing/publishing goals

Provides candid evaluation of the work

Offers specifi c, constructive criticism rather than generalized praise

Provides guidance at various stages of manuscript completion

Understands the intended audience for the work (e.g., practitioners, international scholars) Accepts the agreed upon role (e.g., second author, an acknowledgement)

Protégé ’ s responsibilities

Produces written work rather talk alone

Submits work that truly represents the best of her or his ability

Expects both positive and negative comments

Views criticism as a route to manuscript improvement

Does not complain or quit when more work is required

Responds appropriately to recommendations for revision

Submits rewrites in a timely fashion

Recognizes the level of the mentor’s contributions appropriately (e.g., in an

acknowledgement, as a co-author)

Informs the mentor about publication, thanks him or her, and supplies a copy

1 From Aspiring Author to Published Scholar